Tag: Michael Mancini

Mac Scorpio, who never asked for more than he gave. In fact, Mac never asked for anything. It was his great joy to raise three “daughters” to whom he had no legal responsibility. He didn’t need it. He was bound by love. Georgie, Maxie, and Robin would have known a very different (colder and crueler) world without him. Remember, Mac is an ‘old school’ reformed bad boy. He only had two things on his mind when he arrived in PC, making money and making mischief – and that usually involved someone’s wife/girlfriend/etc. Not every character has to be a Mac Scorpio, but it sure would be nice if there were more of them.

Jasper Jacks, see Mac. Jax’s ‘crime’? He actually believes that children should grow up in a loving environment with parents they can look up to (or make that SHOULD look up to). What’s wrong with this guy, right? He thinks that children raised in a violent world could, at worst, lose their lives, or at least lose the ability to make good choices toward becoming healthy and loving adults. Our poor Jax wants to give Michael and Morgan the life that neither of their parents is smart enough to want for them. Jax isn’t an angry or preachy guy. He’s just a guy who uses commonsense, but whose statements are treated as if they’re irrational. I don’t want to see Jax changed. I’d rather the writers realized that he should be the agent for change for characters they’ve relegated to the status of one-note harridans…. Carly.

Lucky Spencer, again, see Mac. Lucky is another one of those ‘annoying do-gooders’ GH writers create and then punish. His worst mistake was getting hooked on painkillers, but beyond that Lucky has been a remarkably good guy. He’s loved and forgiven his ‘soul mate’, Elizabeth Webber, for lying and cheating and passing off another man’s child as his while she secretly gave ‘their’ son his biological father’s initials. I know, Lucky cheated with Maxie Jones. Drug addicted Lucky cheated with Maxie – it was the only way she’d give him the pills she’d stolen for him. It doesn’t absolve him of being a complete ass, but when I compare that to sober Liz cheated on Lucky, repeatedly, I’m not so angry at the guy. Through it all, Lucky loved both of Elizabeth’s children as his own and despite the fact that he believes her to be pregnant with his brother’s child, he has not abandoned his children and technically, he hasn’t abandoned her, either.

Dante Falconeri, not much to say, but I’m adding him to the list any way. He has integrity, believes in his life as a law enforcement official, and for now he’s open and honest, and doesn’t cheat. Now that Brenda (Brender, to some of you) is back, my biggest fear is that a father-son-Brenda triangle will begin marking the end of my viewership of this show. I’ll enjoy Dante while I can. As the mother of an adult son, I have to admit that what I love most about him is that he’s a mama’s boy (in the most positive sense of the word).

And then there’s:

Sonny CorinthosThat’s it? Sonny takes away Kristina’s credit cards and that’s all it takes to make her behave and forgive her father for abusing women and making her feel worthless? Gorgeous life lesson there! Does this now make Sonny the father of the year? He nearly blows his psychologically fragile daughter to hell and back, lies about it, and all he has to do is make her live a month without credit cards and yell at her to make her feel as if SHE is the problem in their relationship. Tale tucked between her legs, eyes cast downward, (and I think she piddled the floor) Kristina realizes that she is in fact just a naughty girl who has been disrespectful of her loving father.

You take a kid’s credit cards away if they overspend, or if they are a little mouthy. Kristina has now nearly cost two separate young men their lives (Ethan and Johnny) by playing games. She has a habit of falling for older men – whether they want her or not. She’s dated a young man who was horribly abusive to her and she protected him. Shouldn’t she be in therapy – where almost every GH woman has been? Oh, don’t worry, GH males don’t typically need help, they’re good to go. The one person who really does belong on a therapist’s couch won’t have to go… she’s been cured with a little retail therapy. Once she gets her credit cards back, she’ll spend her way into happiness. Besides, in therapy she’ll only learn to blame her father for his anger and aggression toward women and we can’t have that.

Patrick Drake Mancini: Writers, you blew it! Seriously! I’m not just making it up as I go along – I leave that to you! I wanted to feel sorry for the guy, but HOW???? He’s just had sex with his wife… who is HIV positive… after having sex with another woman and not telling her, not giving HER the choice of saying ‘no’ and walking away. He is, after all, the wronged party, right? He shouldn’t have to pay for his infidelity because he was drunk.

Besides, he’s really really sorry, and he loves his life with Robin.. again. I know, because he said so. Of course, that’s in stark contrast to his whining and moaning a couple of weeks ago about having his ‘ex girlfriend’ stolen, that the ex didn’t support him by standing with him against Steve Webber, that his life has changed and he doesn’t know how he became the ‘good guy’ – clearly overstating the case. The fun begins 3:07 in…

Some of you got the Michael Mancini comparison and loved it, others of you thought it was too extreme. Michael Mancini, from what I can piece together of MP history, didn’t become a major d-bag all at once (and my apologies to d-bags which are actually useful, Patrick is not). Michael slowly evolved – primarily putting his own needs first and finding more and more ways to rationalize and justify his betrayals and misdeeds. Was he ever truly sorry for cheating on his wife with her sister? Someone who did watch the show long term can tell me. I wondered about that when watching Patrick and Robin together as Patrick expressed a coded statement of remorse to a clueless Robin. As with Lucky and Liz, Patrick stood by Robin when she was ill, I agree… but she was ill… his asshat behavior is all about who Patrick is at his core (the man who loves his life with Robin, no hates it – he’s too confined, no <sigh> loves it now that he realizes he could lose it). We all know where this is going. It will be ‘that crazy bitch’s’ fault that he cheated, ultimately.

Patrick Drake Mancini will threaten, and shove, and push, and snarl, and whine… and we are to forgive him, because he didn’t mean to fault his wife for running off to save lives in Africa for a few months, after he dared to give up his beautiful life to ‘settle’ for her. It’s not his fault that ‘that crazy bitch’ believed him when he flirted with her about the marvelous sex they once had. It’s not his fault that he hates Steven Webber for ‘stealing his ex-crazy bitch- girlfriend even as he has a loving wife and adorable child at home. On GH, it’s always some ‘crazy bitch’s fault’.

Someone at GH clearly has an English-to-Misogyny-dictionary/playbook and I wish they’d burn that bastard.

I watched just a couple episodes of the original Melrose Place the first year it aired. It just wasn’t the show for me so I moved on to something else (what? I can’t even remember at this time). One of the few things I could tell you about the early episodes is that there was a young handsome hardworking doctor, Michael Mancini, and his lovely and sweet wife, Jane. I knew as soon as I saw them that one or both of them had to change if they were going to survive that show. They were ‘too sweet’ and ‘too in love’. I wasn’t shocked when I later caught an episode and sweet Michael Mancini was a first class rogue and all around bad guy.

What we’re now watching, GHers, is the ‘Mancini treatment’ for dear Patrick. My guess is that it will play out with much less success. This is a serious step backwards. The writers took great pains to transform Patrick from an egocentric playboy who bedded desperate nurses hoping to tame him, into a mature man in love with a woman who was clearly his equal in every way.

So what is the life lesson (for onscreen Robin Scorpio Drake) in this storyline?

Is she to learn that you can never reform a narcissist?

Will she learn that she was right (UGH), that the mob boys may engage in behaviors not condoned by society, but at least they’re loyal? Any bets on how long it will be before we hear Robin throw that line in Patrick’s face?

Should she question how foolish she was to take Patrick at his word when he said that he wouldn’t trade the life he has with Robin and Emma for anything in the world?

Whatever the case, the writers erred in giving Patrick the ‘Mancini Treatment’. He was drunk when he cheated? That’s the excuse? How many times before that had he hinted at, flirted with, suggested to his ex- that a roll in the hay with him would make all right with the world? Was that not Patrick Drake Mancini crying about driving a minivan with a child safety seat (and to Luke Spencer of all people)? The writers have given me no reason to care about this storyline, or PDM, or his new found concern for his wife and family now that he’s ‘sober’ and not just stupid/whining and self pitying.

It would be a disgrace to have Robin fight to save her relationship with him It’s PDM who should do the fighting to save that marriage. Robin should not be willing to quickly forgive, either.

It would be a nightmare if the writers were foolish enough to have Robin fault herself. She should clearly fault Patrick and Lisa for their actions. The writers regressed Patrick for this storyline, they need to take the time to build him back up as a ‘man’.

The fact that Lisa is a liar and manipulator does not make me want to ‘root’ against her any more than I already am rooting against her. Her behavior does not lead me to stand in favor of Robin kicking her sorry ass (though I wouldn’t mind seeing Robin kick Patrick’s sorry ass). I wish the writers had been more clever in finding storylines for SCRUBS. I wish they cared to spend as much time developing them and making them a centerpiece of the show in the way they’ve done for the mob boys for years. What made GH great for so many years was it’s attention to details related to creating and building unparalleled love stories. Now all of GH’s love stories are on the rocks:

Jax is being emasculated while being ‘taught a lesson’ by his airhead wife who isn’t fit to carry his clipped toenails. Seriously, the man eats his opponents for breakfast. CARLY keeps his head spinning? If he was Sonny, he’d have already moved on and impregnated someone by now.

Olivia is watching Johnny behave like pinhead and follow the lead of a disturbed 17 year old.

The writers are pushing the slithering Liz and Nik closer together, despite their ill treatment of Lucky – who is alone yet again.

Maxie is unfaithful to Spinelli again, emotionally, this time.

Spanky buns has no use for Luke – who has decided that running off to parts unknown will cause Tracy to miss him even more.

Lulu is locked in battle with ‘bought-and-paid-for’ Brooke Lynn.

Alexis has no love life to speak of (and where is MAC)?

Steven is stuck believing that sociopathic Lisa has real feelings for him.

Yet another woman in law enforcement is offering herself as bait to catch Sonny. What are they doing to my CLAIRE!?!? Lucky is single, he’s alone!

Yup, makes sense that the writers take the show’s only happy couple and ruins them. It makes sense if reason and logic are things of the past. Apparently it is, as daytime serials soon will be as well.